Abstract [en]

The purpose of the study was to investigate, through an experiment, if positive mood promotes creativity and flexible thinking. Participants were a total of 93 college students. The main hypothesis was that subjects induced with positive mood would perform better than subjects induced with negative mood, at a test reflecting creativity. To further explore the implications of priming (subliminal manipulated moods), a neutral control group was included. The cognitive test used in the study was Duncker´s The Candle Problem, a test which aims to get the subjects to apply flexible and creative thinking. The priming methods applied in the study was music and video clips. To measure the participant’s subjective mood a self-report scale, Mood Adjective Check List (MACL), was included as a successful manipulation control. The result showed a clear relationship between positive and negative priming, implying that subjects induced with positive mood performed significantly better than subjects induced with negative mood. There was no significant relationship between the groups induced with neutral and negative mood.